French Football Federation: the Le Graët system in the sights of the Ministry of Sports

Noël Le Graët (center), president of the French Football Federation (FFF), attends the annual general meeting in Nice, June 18, 2022. NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP To believe it, Noël Le Graët left delighted with his Parisian breakfast, Friday September 16, with the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “The meeting was cordial”, specifies to World the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), arrived in sedan with tinted windows with ten minutes in advance at an appointment fixed at 8 am at the headquarters of the ministry, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Officially, the boss of French football since 2011 and his general manager, Florence Hardouin, were invited to discuss “different subjects”. Two of them, however, seemed more important than the others: the recent revelations of the magazine So Foot on the supposed sending by Mr. Le Graët of SMS of a sexual nature to employees and the numerous testimonies on the deleterious atmosphere and the dysfunctions suspected within the FFF. Already back at the end of the morning in his stronghold of Guingamp (Côtes-d’Armor), the Breton faces the media storm with a disconcerting detachment. “We hardly talked about SMS this morning. There are none, text messages, says the 80-year-old leader, elected until 2024, to Le Monde. It is strange, moreover, that no one has filed a complaint. We’ll stop talking about it, I don’t care. “Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Noël Le Graët, weakened president of the French Football Federation At the end of this breakfast, none of the participants spoke to the press, but a press release from the ministry was sent in stride. Ms. Oudéa-Castéra told her two guests of her intention “to initiate a mission from the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research [IGESR] of audit and control over the steering of the federation and compliance with the obligations attached thereto”. A first at the FFF since 2011 and the “quota affair” – officials of the federation wanted to limit the number of dual nationals in the youth selections. The press release specifies that Mr. Le Graët “undertook to transmit to this mission, in the most complete transparency, all the reports produced in the recent period on the FFF and in particular those relating to its governance and its management”. “Toxic culture” within the FFF While some of his relatives describe him as “affected” and “freewheeling” since the revelations of So Foot, the boss of the “3F” welcomes this news with serenity. “This inspection is very good, it’s perfect. It is a good initiative. Inspection is used to going all over the place,” he says. However, this is not just a courtesy visit. You have 68.99% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.